Photographer: Grace-Anne Matocha
The Sam Houston State University volleyball team is looking
to build on a successful 2018 season where they finished third in the Southland
Conference with a 13-3 record against SLC opponents and a 22-8 record overall.
Despite losing three key seniors last year (Jaclyn Ward,
Madison Wallace and Taylor Cunningham), the team returns a strong core.
The Bearkats started their season off with the annual SHSU
Invitational August 30-31. The Kats finished with a record of 1-2, defeating
Prairie View A&M in five sets but losing to Louisiana Tech University and
Oral Roberts University.
Although they lost the second and third game of the
tournament, the first game win meant a little more than a simple tournament
game victory. The team dominated in its first two sets against Oral Roberts but
struggled to close out the third and fourth set— leading to a final fifth set.
SHSU was able to take the final set, dropping the decider 15-10 to win the
game. With this win, head coach Brenda Gray became just the 26th coach in NCAA
history to surmount 700 career wins.
“You know, it’s crazy that I’m at 700 because, well, I mean,
that’s a lot,” Gray said. “But I’ve been involved in a lot of volleyball games
and to me, I mean, it’s just a product of what they do every day. So this is a
new team, this is their statement. So right now we are just 1-0. That’s how I
look at it.”
The team followed up that tournament with the BYU Classic in
Provo, Utah. The Bearkats also finished this tournament with a record of 1-2—
facing off against Weber State University, Brigham Young University and Long
Island University.
The Bearkats lost their opening game losing to Weber State
3-0. Junior outside hitter Ashley Lewis shined as the one bright spot in the
match compiling14 kills. Weber State had four different players with nine kills
each that showed to be the deciding factor. The Bearkats lost each set 25-21,
25-19, and the last set 25-18.
In their second game against BYU, the team put up more of a
fight, but still ended up losing 3-1. The Bearkats took the first set 26-24,
but they failed to capitalize on that win as they scored only 13 points in
their following set— losing 25-13. The team was then unable to follow up in
their next two sets only scoring 18 and 16, respectively.
Lewis followed up her first game with another impressive
performance with 15 kills, as well as freshman outside hitter Catherine Krieger
who had 10 kills. Madelyn Robinson of BYU had 16 kills to lead her team.
In the final game of the tournament, the Bearkats were able
to win against LIU in dominating fashion by taking the first three sets and not
looking back on their way to a sweep. SHSU did not allow more than 18 points in
any set, including only allowing 12 points in the second set of the game.
The team will look to build off the momentum of that game
three win as they go further into the season. Next up, SHSU will participate in
the Gamecock classic in Jacksonville, Alabama. In this tournament they will
face off against Jacksonville State University, Mississippi State University
and Stetson University.
Jacksonville State finished fourth in the Ohio Valley
Conference last year with a conference record of 9-7 and a total record of
18-14. They also made it to the semifinals of the Ohio Valley Conference
Tournament.
Mississippi State looks to bounce back after an extremely
underwhelming season in which they finished with a total record of 5-26. They
only won one conference game the whole season and look to have a brand new
approach to this year.
Stetson University finished last season with an 8-8 record
in conference and a total record of 16-13. They finished fifth in the Atlantic
Sun Conference and look to improve this season after an average season the year
before.
The Bearkats have a very good mix of young and veteran
players which looks to help continue their success they have had in previous
years. Lewis looks to continue her
strong start to the season after two very impressive tournament performances.
Her veteran leadership looks to help carry this team throughout the season. On
the younger side of the team, sophomore outside/ right side hitter Breanne
Chausse has also had a very strong start to the season as she has now gained
more playing time.
The Bearkats look to gain their first tournament win next
week in Alabama in the Gamecock Classic with their first game against
Jacksonville State Sept. 13.